Little Things
by DieChan
Summary: When life's got you down, what better to cheer you up than a strange brunet boy standing in the rain to teach you a life lesson? AU, no pairings, no PLOT. Enjoy.


It was raining.

Not the gloomy, foreboding rain that came with bad gut-feelings and tragedy, but a hearty light rain that soothed the senses. On one horizon, the dark, threatening storm clouds were rolling out, taking with it the low rumbles of thunder and faint flashes of lightening that had pestered the citizens of Destiny Islands only a few moments prior.

On the other horizon, smooth gray-tinted clouds were breaking apart and revealing the radiant sunset, casting its rays on all it could touch.

The wind blew lightly, rustling the leaves of the trees and loosing the remains of rainwater that clung desperately to them, the light of the sun catching the twinkling droplets that refused to let go.

When Riku first saw the boy, standing in the rain and staring so _intently_ at the sky, he couldn't help but stop dead in his tracks and do his fair share of staring from under his umbrella.

Spiky brunet hair, darkened and limp from the rain, clothes wet - not soaked - and sagging on his slender frame, feet bare and dirtied with mud from the dirt pathway he was occupying…

Breathtaking blue eyes stared raptly at the departing dark clouds, dark lashes fanning against slightly rounded cheeks when a rogue raindrop would get too close, making him blink. Full, pink lips were quirked upwards into a slight smile that was caught between content and detached awe, and the edges would twitch occasionally at the rain.

Riku briefly wondered when he had gotten close enough to _notice_ that—

"You're staring."

He almost dropped his umbrella.

Blue eyes turned to regard him with amusement, "That's rude."

Bristling and blushing, Riku tightened his grip on the handle of the umbrella and blurted, "What are you doing?"

He thought the boy ignored him. The brunet trained his gaze back to the sky and made no move to respond, smiling a little brighter now and clasping his hands behind his back.

Riku rolled his eyes, scoffed and made to walk away…

"Isn't it pretty?"

The silveret blinked and turned, "What?"

The brunet flashed him a look and pointed to the sky, "There. Isn't it pretty?" he repeated.

Brows furrowing beneath his bangs, Riku followed the boy's gesture to the sky, seeing nothing at first but the depressingly dark clouds, "I don't see anything."

The brunet pouted at him, "Because you're not looking."

_Not looking?_ Riku was agitated and confused, perplexed by this odd boy standing in front of him with his air of mysticism. But there was something about said boy that Riku just couldn't bring himself to be angry at, and instead chose to glare at his cut and tattered pants and sandals.

The boy must have finally noted his appearance as he turned around to face him, "You look rough. What happened to you?"

Normally the silver haired boy's response would have been something akin to a barked "None of your business;" but again, something about the other male made him feel more… calm? at ease?

"Just got back from the harbor. Our boat needs more repairs than we can afford after the storm," he said.

The boy blinked before his eyes softened and his lips were pressed into a thin line as he nodded in understanding, "The storm blew up too fast for you to dock."

Riku nodded dejectedly, "We lost pretty much our entire catch for the day, and what we have left isn't going to pay for the damage," he shook his head as he spoke, looking a little lost, "And I need the money too…"

"How come?"

Again, Riku wondered where the overprotective feeling toward his private life had vanished to as he replied, "Food doesn't buy itself, you know. And since my mom can't work anymore since she got sick, it's all up to me."

The boy hummed in sympathy.

A sort of content silence hung over the two for a moment. Neither spoke, and neither moved until the brunet turned away from Riku once more, gazing fondly at the same patch of sky as before. And once again, just when Riku thought that they were done and began to walk away, the other spoke again.

"When I was little," he began, "when I would come home upset and crying and sad, my mom would always tell me the same thing. 'Don't be sad,' she'd say, 'life is too short to be sad, even for a second.' She'd always tell me to chin up and look on the bright side, it could always be worse." He looked to the ground, shuffling his bare feet in the mud and suddenly Riku picked up a sense of lostness from the boy that inexplicably made his heart clench.

The brunet gave an odd sort of half-smile, "It's the little things in life that make it worth living, and you'll miss them if you dwell on the bad things all the time. She'd always tell me that, and I guess it's finally just now sinking in to me."

The boy fixed Riku with a bittersweet smile and injured eyes, "She died last week."

Riku had not a clue what to say to that. An apology for the loss of this boy that he didn't even know would seem mundane and meaningless, so he chose to keep his mouth shut.

"But it's okay, because she was happy when she went. She wanted her last few moments to be happy ones, and not dwell on the fact that she was dying. She kept telling me to remember the small things and look on the bright side."

"You miss her, though."

"Of course. I miss her more than anything… but being sad and moping about it won't bring her back. It won't change anything now. So… all that I can really do is keep on looking on the bright side, take the time to appreciate all the small things. Like that," he smiled, pointing to the sky once more.

Riku followed the gesture to the sky once more…

…and his eyes widened. He stared, nearly transfixed, at the arch in the sky. Illuminated against the darkness of the roiling storm clouds, he was mesmerized by the spectrum of color in the sky that, on any other occasion, would have been absent.

He lost track of how long he gazed upon it, and when he was finally freed of its enrapturing hold on him it had stopped raining and the edges of the arch had blurred and blurred until finally, it dispersed from the skyline. It was odd. It seemed as though with its passing, it stole from him and took with it the gloom that had settled itself over him; he felt more calm, lighthearted and, dare he think it? optimistic.

Wordlessly, he began to walk away. He could feel the odd brunet smiling at his back as he departed, and knew that the boy didn't have to see him to know that Riku was smiling as well.

For beyond the sparkling droplets that clung to the leaves like stars caught in the daylight, Riku had seen the beauty of the rainbow.

--

**AN**: So yeah. I have no idea where this came from, or what it's supposed to mean, and frankly, _I don't care_. I wrote something, and I am happy with myself. Yes. You won't really know what I'm rambling about unless you go outside and stare at a rainbow for half an hour straight. And not a picture of one either! It's not the same. It has to be a real one!

…review please.


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